Paula Broadwell a mirror image of affair lover David Petraeus
Like the soldier with whom she had a career-destroying affair, Paula Broadwell was ambitious, high achieving and high-energy
In a January television interview following publication of her now very famous biography, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, Paula Broadwell described her subject as high-energy, ambitious and tenacious.
She might have been talking about herself. In many ways, Broadwell, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, mirrors the man with whom she's accused of having an extramarital affair.
"Petraeus once joked I was his avatar," she said in January.
Both are West Point graduates. Both have thrived in high-pressure situations, including war zones. And both are fitness fanatics. In Afghanistan in 2010, Broadwell regularly interviewed Petraeus while they went on runs together.
On Friday, Petraeus, America's most-decorated four-star general, resigned as CIA director after admitting to the affair. Almost immediately, Broadwell emerged as the other woman.
On Saturday, the scandal got stranger, as newspapers reported that the FBI stumbled on to the affair after Broadwell sent harassing emails to another woman close to Petraeus. The recipient of the emails was so frightened, The Washington Post reported, she went to the FBI for protection and to help track down the sender.